Thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for the ARC. Being an identical twin, this book piqued my interest, along with being in my favorite genre of mystery/thrillers. The differences between the twins was interesting, given they are twins, as I am always fascinated by the nature/nurture issue. The addition of the cult theme was also interesting and I wished the author had delved a bit more into the many issues regarding cults. I found the writing style to be easy however there was a lot of repetition throughout the narrative and I have to say, I found the ending to be disappointing. It was an easy read but not one that will be memorable to me, as other books related to twins have been.

This was a fantastic story that is told in both flashbacks and the present day. I usually find this sort of storytelling to be a bit grating as it disrupts the flow and pacing of the book but it worked very well in this case. I saw some of the twists coming but many of them took me completely by surprise, which I enjoyed. The ending was a bit of a let down and felt anti-climatic as I didn't think it was explained as well as it could have been. I'd love to read more from Steena Holmes!
Thank you, NetGalley, for this ARC.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book
This is my second by this author but I personally didn't enjoy this one quite as much.
That being said overall a good read

Wow what a great read

Fast paced and I flew through this book. Was a new author to me but will definitely look out for their other books

Thank you for the opportunity to review

Thank you Netgalley for the free arc! I was very excited to read Steena Holmes new novel. She is one of my go to authors, but this book left me disappointed… the storyline seemed promising, but when reading it wasn’t what I expected or could get into. I found it was not for me and couldn’t continue reading and did not finish.

Excellent book. Really enjoyed it. Lots of twists and turns. Put this book on your TBR list for Aug. 29. I recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley, Joffe Books and the Author for allowing me to read and review this book.

This book was provided to me as a free download through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was my first Steena Holmes read.
I was drawn to the book without prior exposure for a variety of reasons.
1- Genre: Mystery/Thriller
2- The cover
3- The title
4-It was an immediate download w/o prior request or approval. (Instant gratification)

I read & listened to this book via the Netgalley app. The voice on the app isn't the greatest, but it truly made it convenient for me to be able to multitask when I wasn't able to sit down and lay eyes on it.

This wasn't a new story. A new telling, new names, a few new perspectives, and even surprises.

However, this read was like a mash-up of cult movies and stories I have read and watched before. I was easy to follow and predict what was going to happen.

That being said, I truly enjoyed it. This author has a wonderful writing style that made it tremendously easy for the words to flow as a movie in my mind's eye. She did a great job with character development as well. If you are like me and have "watched" this story played out before, you may find that you know exactly what's coming, but that don't let that detour you. This is a wonderful read.

The main character, Brynn, annoyed the crap out if me at times. One minute, I was seeing such depth to her character, and the next, she was a moron. (sorry) But in reality, people are like that. Even the smartest and most rational ppl make stupid decisions, especially when it comes to self-doubt, family, and friends are concerned.

I will say I HATED the ending. Thank goodness for epilogues. I wish it hadn't been so abrupt. But for all I know, this may be a part of this particular author's style of writing.

There were some mild triggers. I don't want to give too much away, but ... blood and gore... violence... desecration of the dead...

If this sounds like your cup of tea, I recommend giving this book a try.

This is quite an amazing story! It is extremely well told in present and future settings, leading the reader to believe they know how the book will end. Although they are twins it’s clear from the beginning of the book they aren’t really close and their growing up years were totally different. This book had me on pins and needles from about the middle because I knew something bad was going to happen and I wasn’t sure I was ready for it. This is a thriller that should not be missed. I received an arc of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you, NetGalley and Joffe Books for the copy of The Twin by Steena Holmes. Holmes’ writing drew me in from the start, and Brynn and Bryce were intriguing. I got more and more invested in the story, until that explosive reveal knocked me for a loop. It was so surprising, the end of the book was somewhat of a letdown and never fully explored or explained. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars for this fast and immersive read.

This was a creepy, twisty thriller that kept me guessing until the end! I loved the dual timelines. I wasn’t able to predict the plot twists, which is always a plus. I’ll definitely read more by this author! I think any thriller fan will love this stor.y.

Thanks so much for the opportunity to read!

I kept reading this one because i love this authors books. If it had not been hers, I would have not finished it. Definitely nothing wrong with the writing, I just was not interested in the storyline or characters. Will still look forward to her next book.

This was a great thriller that kept me guessing until the end! It is told in before and after chapters so see the entire story as it unfolds. There were lots of twists and some I saw coming but some completely blindsided me! I love Steena Holmes's books and this is a great one! I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

OMG!! This book is still on my mind days later! I loved the way some chapters were in the past and some were in the present. You know something was going to happen so you just wanted to keep reading to find out what happened! I highly recommend Reading this book!

The Twin is the first Steena Holmes book that I have read. This was a very good suspenseful thriller that reminded me of works by Freida McFadden, Lucy Foley and Daniel Hurst. I very much enjoyed it and I’m going to be reading more by this author..

I am so thankful to have gotten the eARC for free from Netgalley and Joffe Books so I can leave my voluntary and honest review.

The description really intrigued me but I became a bit hesitant as it was a “read now” through NetGalley and they can be a bit questionable in my experience. Then I realized that all this publishers books were set that way so I figured I would give it a chance.

I’m so glad that I did! This story had me completely invested. I didn’t fly through it as so savored it as I went along. The relationship between the twin siblings was disturbing to me from the outset.

I did figure out what was going on along the way (in several instances but I don’t want to give spoilers) particularly things that I think were intended to be a big “holy crap” moment but it didn’t spoil anything. It then became the anticipation of when the characters would sort things out.

In today’s upside down world, the story hit a little close to home in that “this is probably happening with doomsdayers” type of way which makes it all the more frightening.

If you like mystery & thrillers put this on your TBR for Aug 29, 2024! You’ll be glad you did.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

Wow!! That was a creepy but fantastic read!! lol I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one! But yes it definitely had my stomach reeling! It had great suspense, intriguing, action, murder, mystery, cult, kidnapping, and a few crazy twists and turns! The story was very interesting and definitely had me glued to my kindle! I highly recommend reading this book! Thank you NetGalley and Joffe books for sharing this book with me!

This book will be a great addition to your end-of-summer reading list!

The author has a wonderfully elegant way with words and descriptions and a great use of 'before' and 'after' chapters to build up the strange and captivating story of an unusual family and the cult they are willingly, and unwillingly, part of.
It is dark, and at times horrifying and hard to put down once we find out more and more.
A portion of the mystery is easy to foresee, but the author did this on purpose to use the naivety of the main character, Brynn, to represent our own as we both learn more and more as the plot progresses.
There are many well placed twists in this great thriller, and many surprises along the way!
4 stars - while the mystery didn't completely stump me, I was totally captivated by the author's way of describing the scenes, feelings and visuals. There were still some well plotted surprises I quite enjoyed.

A great binge read coming your way this Summer!

The Twin by Steena Holmes was not at all what I was expecting, but I was sucked in from the very beginning and could not put it down once I started.

Albino twins Brynn and Bryce inherit the family funeral home upon the death of their father. Daughter Brynn has always hated her father, and assumes that she and her brother will handle the transition with a minimum amount of fuss. But when Bryce tells her that he has been keeping a very big secret from her, Brynn knows that he has fallen into the trappings of The Family, a cult with which her father was involved.

This one hooked me early and, although a tad graphic, held my attention until the very end.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for an ARC.

I must start by saying I love all of Steena Homes work so I was excited to read this one! The storyline was crazy! The story follows albino twins who are thought to be the center of a cult belief system. This book starts off strong and doesn't let go. I finished in one day. The characters were well done and relatable in a lot of ways. It definitely takes some crazy twists and turns and at times is graphic. Well worth the read!!

This book starts okay with twin boy and girl taking over their dad's funeral home when he passes away. Things were moving slowly with all these secrets to be revealed so I skipped a lot of the book. Picked up reading again towards the end and the twist. Let's just say you need a strong stomach to get through the horrible secrets. Unless you really like horror and graphic things skip this book.